ApeFest attendees report ‘extreme pain’ and vision problems after the event

Attendees at Yoga Labs' ApeFest event in Hong Kong on Nov. 4 reported burns, vision impairment and “severe pain” in their eyes, which they attributed to improper lighting.

“After Apefest I woke up in the middle of the night with so much pain in my eyes that I had to go to the hospital,” one attendee wrote in a November 5 X (Twitter) post.

After Apefest I woke up in the middle of the night with so much pain in my eyes that I had to go to the hospital. I have seen many tweets about it

The doctor told me that it was due to the UV from the stage lights. I often go to festivals but I have never experienced this

I try to understand…

— Crypto June (@CryptoJune777) November 5, 2023

He added, “The doctor told me it's because of the ultraviolet radiation from the stage lights.” I try to understand how it can be… it looks like the lights [were] It's not safe.”

One attendee said most of those reporting eye problems were “too close” to the light display on the event's main stage.

Another ApeFest guest, who goes by the name X-Lay Feld, described similar symptoms.

“Anyone's eyes burning from last night? He woke up at 3 a.m. in severe pain and went into the ER.

At least 15 reports of visual damage among the hundreds of ApeFest attendees appeared on social media, suggesting the risks were limited to guests in close proximity to the stage lights.

I hope that my friends who are suffering from the same problem will realize that they need medical help as soon as possible (read the full article)

Thanks @yugalabs and @BoredApeYC for the excellent apefest logistics guys. It was an incredible event and I met so many amazing people.

Still, like dozens of others, I'm about to disappear… pic.twitter.com/emCODEnWmb

— Adrian Zedunczyk, CMT (@crypto_birb) November 5, 2023

Yuga Labs, however, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hong Kong partygoers have suffered medical complications following inappropriate exposure to UV light at a previous event.

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On October 20, 2017, several attendees reported painful burns and eye injuries at a party thrown by streetwear brand HypeBeast.

The party's lighting contractor used a series of Philips TUV 30W G30 T8 bulbs – according to the Philips website – emitting 12 watts of UV-C radiation, according to the events DJ. , mainly used to clean surfaces.

Reports of visual impairment in both cases are consistent with photokeratitis, also known as “welder's eye.” The condition is caused by prolonged exposure to high levels of ultraviolet radiation, usually from artificial sources such as welding lights, but can also be caused by natural sunlight reflecting off bright surfaces such as snow, commonly known as snow blindness.

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